Illegible
by Twackycat
Summary: In a world where the name of your soulmate is written on your arm, having their signature be chicken scratch is one thing, but having nothing to even go off of is tragic. You have to rely on your soulmate to find you. But what happens when neither know who their soulmate is? Even when they're right next to each other? Charles and Erik will have to figure it out. Rated T.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I've been prowling around the X-men fandom for a week or two, and I just love the idea of having a soul mate, and then this happened. The story popped into my head last night, and so I started writing it. I think I explain everything pretty well, but if you have any questions feel free to ask. Don't be shy. Rated T for language, and violence. Anyways I hope you like the first chapter of this story.**

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No one is sure where along the evolutionary line having your soul bound to another's happened, or when having their name on the underside of your forearm came into the equation. The only thing that was certain was that it had happened, and this left many people staring at their arms, in delight, in despair, in curiosity, in every emotion possible as they thought of their perfect match.

Charles Xavier, had never seen the name written on his forearm, and not for a lack of attention or trying. Ever since he could remember, it wasn't a name on his arm but rather an atrocious burn that spanned some of his left hand, most of his forearm and climbed past his elbow in some places.

It was meant to look like an accident, because it was illegal to mess with the name of someone's soul mate, their soul mark. However Charles knew the ugly truth behind his nearly crippled limb. His father had done it on purpose, breaking the law, all because the name on his arm had been another man's name.

Brian Xavier could not stand the idea that his son, his own flesh and blood, could possibly have been so unnatural to have a soul mate in another man. That wasn't going to continue on his family, it would end it, and with such disgrace too. No, Brain Xavier couldn't have that, so he did what he must to ensure that his son would never find the man he was destined to be with.

After the deed was done, he had all records of the name that had been on his son's arm destroyed, burned just like what he had done to his son's arm. All baby pictures where the name was showing, any and all official documents with written proof of the name's existence. Charles knew nothing of the name other than that it was a man's name, and he could only hope to one day find the man whose arm had his signature.

Once Charles started school, he quickly learned to always wear long sleeves and to wear a glove on his left hand. It got him strange looks, especially during the melting summers, but it was better than the looks of pity anytime caught sight of his scared arm. Once his powers manifested it was clear the long sleeves didn't really do the trick for knowing adults. They still all pitied him, pitied the boy who would never know true love.

His life brightened up once he found Raven attempting to steal from the fridge. Charles had seen through her disguise the moment her eyes had lingered on his arm for a second too long. His mother had never cared about what her husband had done to him, she thought it was just another reason to reinforce that writing with his left hand was bad.

Raven had apologized after she had caught herself staring at his arm. Charles had grown used to the states and was simply curious as to what a soul mark was supposed to look like. His father and mother had never shown him theirs, and he suspected that they weren't a match. That's why his mother had remarried so soon after his father's rather fitting death. He'd died in a lab fire.

It was an unspoken agreement between the self adopted siblings that they didn't mention their soul marks. The chicken scratch handwriting of Raven's soul mate was almost entirely illegible, the pair thought their might have been a 'z' in the name, but it honestly could have been anything. Charles still wore long sleeved shirts, mindful of his stepfather and stepbrother, who both shared his father's idea regarding same sex soul mates.

Charles would have been lying if he had said he wasn't jealous of Raven's power. She could change her appearance, she could blend in anywhere. She didn't have to deal with the thoughts that his deformity brought to people's minds. Charles hated his father for what he'd done, but he'd learned very quickly that he'd have to put up a facade of nonchalance to make people believe that everything was right in the world.

It wasn't until he met Erik that someone immediately saw through the falsehood that shadowed his every day. Erik understood the pitying states and the frustrating nights staring at his arm wishing something would change. Something would happen and the name would suddenly appear. Erik had also had his soul mark taken away from him.

Erik's missing mark wasn't as visible as Charles', his was one thick burned line over where the name was supposed to be. However the situation in which he lost his soul mark was much more violent. His soul mark was taken away at the same time a number was burned into the underside of his left forearm, a cruel mockery of a soul mark. Burning away the soul mark of the Jews was just another illegal thing in a long list against the Nazis.

Erik might have been fourteen when his soul mark was taken, but he didn't remember it. He knew that it had been written in elegant, looping cursive, and in english, preventing him from really reading the name. He vaguely remembered his mother once telling him what the name was, and he was sure that it was another man's name, but he couldn't be sure. Erik wasn't very concerned with finding the name of his soul mate, he was more focused on killing the man who murdered his mother. If he found his soulmate while doing this, that was just a bonus.

* * *

Charles was nervous, and he honestly wasn't sure why exactly that was. Raven came up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder. He relaxed marginally, but still was tense as he kept a lock on where Shaw was.

"This is the U.S. Coast Guard. Do not attempt to move your vessel. Stay where you are." As Charles watched small motor boats speed off towards the boat, he found himself being shoved away from Shaw's presence. The telepath took a small step back as he gasped.

"I've lost… I've lost Shaw. There's something blocking me. This is never happened to me before. I think there's someone like me on that ship."

"Like you?" McTagert asked this and Charles was quick to explain.

"I'm sorry a telepath." He let out a shaky sigh, but had a little smile on his face. "This is incredible. I could actually feel her inside my mind." He glanced at the suit behind him. "I'm very sorry, but I don't think I'm gonna be much help to you tonight. You're on your own."

All they could do was stand there and watch as two small tornadoes came from the ship they were pursuing, and wiped out the small boats that had been headed towards the ship. Charles stood frozen in place even as somebody tried to get him to move inside. Raven tried pulling on his arm, but he wouldn't budge.

"Charles' what's going on?" Raven had just asked this when the telepath jolted forward in shock, a hand immediately at his temple.

"There's somebody else out there." As he said this, the anchor of Shaw's ship started to rise in the air. "There." They watched in horror as the anchor then slammed into the ship, tearing it up. After nearly a minute of destruction the anchor broke off the chain and splashed into the ocean.

Seconds later it was clear that Shaw had a hidden submarine inside his ship and was now using it to escape. However Charles was more focused on the thoughts he was getting from the one who moved the anchor. He was determined to stop the submarine at all costs, even though at the moment he was just getting dragged through the water.

"Let go!" Charles shouted this at the top of his voice. "You have to let it go!" It was clear as day that the man either couldn't hear him, or was ignoring him. "You've got to get someone in the water to help him!" Charles briefly glanced at the government officials behind him, but quickly turned his attention back to the water. "Let it go! You have to let it go!"

Charles continued to scream this as the man got dragged closer and closer to where their ship was. He didn't see anybody else in the water trying to save him, and his breath was taken away when he saw the man disappear under the water.

After a second's hesitation, Charles bolted towards the other side of the ship, stripping off his jacket as he did so. He came to a stop by a break in the railing for half a second before taking the dive into the freezing sea water.

It was perfect timing. Charles landed directly on top of the other man, and immediately grabbed a hold of him. The other man struggled in the telepath's grip, his only thoughts being about pulling that submarine to him.

" _You can't, you'll drown."_ Charles hated bursting into the other man's mind, but it was a life or death situation. " _You have to let go."_ Images of how much the man wanted to kill Shaw and why flashed through Charles' mind. " _I know what this means to you, but you're going to die. Please, Erik,"_ Charles hated pulling information out of the man's - no Erik's - head but he felt this was the only way to get through to him. " _Calm your mind."_

At that point Charles felt the man give up and his body was not getting enough oxygen, he took that to his advantage. Fixing his grip on the man so his arms weren't around his neck, he kicked up towards the surface of the sea. As soon as they broke the surface and they had both breathed in a huge breath of air, Erik was once again struggling against the telepath.

"Get off of me! Get off!" Charles let the man tread water on his own, but was ready to dive after him if he tried to go after the sub again.

"Calm down. Please." Charles spared half a glance towards the boat as he called for them. "We're here!" Most of his attention was focused on Erik.

"Who are you?" It was a fair question, after all Charles knew practically everything that fueled the man in front of him to live.

"My name's Charles Xavier."

"You were in my head." Another fair point. "How did you do that?" Charles had to do his best not to flinch at the waves of emotions that were rolling off of Erik, anger and confusion being the most prominent.

"You have your tricks, I have mine. I'm like you. Just calm your mind." The man didn't smile, but Charles felt a wave of relief come from him.

"I thought I was alone." That hit home for Charles, remembering how he felt before he met Raven, and he knew mutants all over the world probably felt the same way.

"You're not alone. Erik, you're not alone." Charles couldn't help but smile as he said this, and the small smile and almost overwhelming sense of relief and joy was definitely worth it.

A few minutes later they were being pulled out of the freezing sea and into the deck of the ship. Charles was immediately wrapped in a towel as Raven practically lept into his arms. The telepath tensed when he got a wave of disappoint from Erik as he saw this. He gave a kiss to Raven's forehead and asked her quietly to go find where his jacket had ended up. He then turned towards Erik who managed to look menacing with a scowl on his face while wrapped in a fluffy towel.

"Raven's my sister." Immediately Charles felt the disappoint fade away, and he wasn't sure how he felt about Erik liking his sister. He quickly decided he didn't like it. "That still means she's off limits." In response he got a small snort from the taller man.

"That's okay, she's not really my type." Charles had to stop himself from taking a step back at this information. The shock still must have been written on his face as Erik smiled a little. The metal bender then quickly covered the space between them, and grabbed onto Charles' left forearm.

The reaction was immediate from both. Charles jerked his arm away as quickly as Erik released it. The telepath kept his eyes on the ground, refusing to lift them to meet the disgust that was no doubt written on the other's face. His heart ached slightly at the idea Erik didn't accept him. He was also suddenly aware of how his wet clothes stuck to his skin, making his deformed arm obviously clear.

"Charles." The telepath bit his lip slightly as he continued to stare at the ground. After a few seconds of silence, Erik gently lifted the shorter man's chin up until their eyes met. "What happened?" As Erik asked this his eyes flickered towards the other man's left arm. Charles debated what to do, and finally decided to go with a half truth.

"There was an accident when I was little." Charles' voice was small and he knew he was trembling slightly, and not just from the cold. He didn't know why he was ashamed of Erik knowing the truth, but he was. Gently Erik took a hold of his wrist and pushed his sopping wet sleet and pushed it up to his elbow, showing off his badly burned arm and the nonexistent soul mark.

"This was no accident." Erik said it with malice in his voice, and that along with all the assumptions that came flooding in from everyone around him was too much. It had certainly gotten harder as he got older as other people started to assume that it hadn't been someone else who had burned him, that he'd done it himself. That he was ashamed of who his soulmate was, or they had already died. Charles was brought out of his thoughts by Erik's voice. "Charles?"

"I was really young when it happened…" Almost immediately he felt everyone else stop staring at him when Erik glared at them. "Thanks." Charles barely whispered this and if Erik heard him, he didn't acknowledge it.

"Do you know who your soulmate is?" The telepath shook his head ever so slightly as he felt tears start to trickle down his cheeks. Erik moved away slightly, and Charles felt like a hole had opened up in his heart. "I don't either." The metal bender said this as he pulled up the sleeve on his right arm, showing off the bar of burned skin on the underside of his arm.

In the back of Charles' mind he had already known that the man in front of him didn't know his either. He'd seen it happen in the man's memories, but actually seeing it with his own eyes brought the pair to an understanding. After a few seconds of staring at the other man's arm, Charles was wracked with a shiver as a strong icy wind blew past them. In a second, Charles found himself wrapped in the other man's embrace in an attempt to keep the cold at bay.

"Let's get inside." The telepath didn't object as the pair walked together, Charles' left hand intertwined with Erik's right hand. Once inside, the pair were given some towels to sit on and were left alone. They sat in a comfortable silence, simply leaning against each other, enjoying each other's presence. When Raven walked in to tell them they had arrived at the shore and return Charles' coat, that's all she did. She didn't comment on how close they were or their still intertwined fingers.

Charles didn't remember the car ride home, mostly because he'd fallen asleep curled up against Erik. Erik smiled at the picture, but it was immediately dropped when he realized this wasn't supposed to be his, and he couldn't try and deal with this while he was still hunting Shaw down. Once they reached the government building they were staying at, Erik carried Charles into his room, and left Raven with him to help him get ready for bed.

Once he had been directed to his own room, Erik wanted to punch the wall or something. Where had all these emotions come from? Why did he care so much about Charles? A little voice in the back of his mind suggested that maybe they were soulmates. He quickly pushed that thought away as he fast as he could. The probability that they were was astronomical, and was not something that he would bet on.

Still he couldn't quite shake the feeling they were meant to be. He blamed it on the fact Charles was the first person to be truly nice to him in a long time, and was somebody else like him, not completely normal.

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 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews would be appreciated. Please tell me if you'd like for me to continue this story. I already have some of the next chapter typed up, so it shouldn't be too hard for me to get up another chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Second chapter of Illegible is up. Hope you guys like it.**

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In the morning, neither of them spoke about what had happened last night, and they both kept their distance. Charles noticed that Raven seemed to be a little sadder today, but couldn't quite place why.

The car ride to the CIA Research Base was awkward and silent. Moria didn't comment on the tense air and kept her eyes on the road. Every once and awhile Raven would glance over her shoulder at where Erik and Charles were sitting in the backseat, each trying to be as close to the other while trying to look like they were ignoring the other.

Once they were at the Research Base they were immediately greeted by the same suit from the meeting the day before and had accompanied them last night. Charles wasn't sure if he'd ever mentioned his name. He grinned at them and motioned his arms towards the building in front of them.

"Welcome to my facility." He continued to talk as he started to lead the group inside the building. "My mission has been to investigate the application of paranormal powers in military defense." Erik was quick to jump into the conversation.

"Or offense." Charles gave the older man an inquisitive look, curious as to what he meant by that, but quickly decided against asking.

"This guy Shaw, Schmit, whatever you want to call him. He's working with the Russians. We might need your help to stop him." The still nameless suit was practically screaming his thoughts about a theoretical mutant team helping the government. Unfortunately because he didn't seem like he was going to voice his thoughts anytime soon, Charles felt the need to include everyone in the idea.

"Marvalus. So we're to be the CIA's new mutant devision, yes?" The man in the suit stared at him for a second, a look of pure shock on his face. He recovered himself after a second, and nodded his head while speaking.

"Yeah, something like that." From behind him, Charles could hear Raven chuckle slightly, and he was also acutely aware of Erik's almost looming presence over his right shoulder.

They were given a brief tour of the facility, the man in black spouting out random facts throughout. Charles knew that Moria wasn't paying any attention, having been on the tour before, while Raven was trying to pay attention but baffled by all the technology around them. Erik also wasn't paying attention, but he was focused on everything else, cautious of everyone around them.

Charles followed behind respectfully, curious as to the other distinctly mutant thought process he was picking up on. As they grew closer, the telepath couldn't help but grow excited at the prospect of meeting yet another mutant in such a short amount of time. He jumped slightly when Erik placed a hand on his shoulder, bringing him out of his thoughts. They had ended up stopped in front of a model of a jet.

"It's… uh… supersonic." Everyone directed their attention towards the young man who had on white lab coat. "It's the most advanced plane ever built." The man still hadn't actually looked at anyone, and it was clear to even the non telepaths that he was nervous. "You should see it in real life. It's incredible."

"Hank." At the sound of his name, the young man looked up, and the man in black motioned towards Charles. "These are the _special_ new recruits I was telling you about." He then introduced the young man. "Hank McCoy. One of our most talented young researchers." Charles immediately started towards him, his right hand extended.

"How wonderful! Another mutant already here. Why didn't you say?" As soon as the words had left his mouth, Charles knew they were the wrong thing to say. The wave of panic that came from Hank was nearly drowned out by the confusion that came from the government suit.

"Say what?" Charles felt like hit himself on the head for such a stupid, rookie, mistake.

"Because you don't know…" Charles turned to look back at Hank, who was trying to keep his gaze on the ground. "I am so, so terribly sorry." He resisted the urge to back up his words with how he was feeling right now, wanting to build up his trust with Hank without the use of his powers.

Hank gave a small shrug of his shoulders, trying to act like he didn't care, but Charles could only feel the fear and anxiety coming from him. Charles looked down at the ground while The man in black came over to them, his jaw dropped in shock.

"Hank?" The whole question was obvious in the single word.

"You didn't asked, so I didn't tell." Hank continued to keep his eyes anywhere but meeting the government man as he shifted his weight nervously.

"So your mutation is… what? You're super smart?" Hank immediately looked up and seemed to perk up as Raven walked over to him. He seemed to like the idea that a pretty young woman was paying attention to him, but at the same time he rubbed his forearm a little. At the same time Charles was also bombarded with Hank's thoughts of his young graduation from college.

"I'll say, Hank here graduated from Harvard at fifteen." Charles felt a little bit of pride from the young man from that statement, but it was overwhelmed by the feeling of being ashamed, and a fear of rejection.

"I wish that's all it was."

"You're among friends now Hank. You can show off." Charles glanced down at Hank's feet for a split second as he said this. After a second of hesitation, he started to slip off his shoes. The young man then pulled off his socks revealing his mutated feet.

Charles let out a small chuckle and smiled at the younger man. From beside him Charles could feel the pride coming from his sister, and he was pretty sure she was smiling. It was confirmed when Hank looked up and smiled as well.

A second later, he carefully made his way past where they were standing in a clump and underneath the jet model. He then leapt into the air and grabbed onto the hanging model with his feet. Everyone in the room except Erik was laughing with joy at this, and Charles could feel that Erik was impressed.

"Tada." Hank said this a little shyly, most of his attention on Raven who was still smiling brightly. She took a few steps closer to him until there was maybe a foot between them.

"You're amazing." Charles could tell it was all Hank could do to not fall off the model in shock.

"Really?" The blonde nodded, and after a second longer of staring Hank leapt down from the jet model. Hank quickly slipped his shoes and socks back on, and finished the very last segment of the tour with the group.

Now that the awkward introduction had passed, it was like a dam had broken. Hank was nothing but smiles and talked excitedly with them about some of the numerous ideas he had in his head. He was curious about their mutations and how many other mutants they knew. He wanted to know how many mutants there were in the world.

It was like night and day, and Charles couldn't help but smile. This is what Charles wanted to do. He wanted so that no mutant ever had to be afraid of their powers. Charles didn't pay attention to the rest of the tour as he thought about how he could make this dream a reality.

Once again when they stopped it was Erik who brought Charles out of own thoughts. Charles almost panicked when he felt concern coming from Erik, until he spoke.

"You know I would have expected a telepath to not get lost in his own thoughts so easily." Charles smiled slightly at the joke as he relaxed when he realized nothing was truly wrong. "So what has your thoughts so totally that you completely missed that Hank and Raven ran off together?" Charles did have to do a glance around the room and confirm that yes, the two young adults as well as the government officials had disappeared.

"They'll be fine. They're both responsible adults." Erik frowned at this response as he sat down on a couch and motioned towards the empty cushion for Charles.

"You dodged my question. What were you thinking about?" Charles let out a sigh as he sat down next to Erik on the couch. He hesitated for a moment before deciding that he trusted Erik enough not to laugh at his dream.

"I was thinking about the future, and how I fit into it. How mutants fit into it. I want to help mutants not be afraid or ashamed of their powers. I want to help them learn control, to let them have a safe haven from the judgemental eyes of humanity. It's just a fantasy really. I don't even know how I would go about it. I mean, so far the other mutants I've met has been pure luck, and if they're living in fear of their powers then they'll not likely to be found." Charles stopped to catch his breath, and looked towards Erik to see what he thought of the idea.

"What if they don't want to be found?" Charles opened his mouth to answer, and realized he wasn't immediately sure how to answer. After a few seconds to think it over in his mind, he answered.

"I guess we give them the option and they can take it if they want to." Charles let out a sigh and slumped on the couch. "Really, forget I ever said anything about it. It's a vague fantasy from my overactive mind." As he said this, Charles moved to get up from the couch, only to be held back by Erik's hand gently gripping his wrist.

"I don't think it's some wild dream. It would take a lot more planning than what you've put into it so far, but I do think you shouldn't give up so easily. From what you've told me it sounds like a wonderful idea, and there are mutants out there who could benefit from something like that. You just have to do some more planning."

Charles sank back down onto the couch, an almost begging look on his face, like he desperately wanted to believe what the older man was saying.

"Really?" Erik nodded his head to answer the telepath's question, and the other had a small smile creep onto his face. The shy smile made Erik's heart ache, just like last night wishing this could be his. For a minute he allowed himself to imagine what life might be like after he's finished his mission and killed Shaw.

All too soon Erik felt like he could get swept away in Charles' blue eyes and practically panicked. Standing up from where he had been sitting on the couch he started towards the door, despite feeling Charles reach out to stop him like he had earlier.

"I'm going to see what the other two are up to." With the rushed excuse, Erik hurried from the room before he fell any harder in love with the other man.

* * *

When Raven and Hank had wandered off, Hank had been trying to explain to Raven what he'd been hoping to do so he would no longer have to be ashamed of his feet. Hank knew that the young woman felt the same way as he did about their physical mutations. They were a hinderance to the contribution to the world.

He continued to explain his thought process in layman's terms, as he explained why he wanted her blood to continue his research. He also didn't want to turn the girl away from him. She might not have been his soul mate, but she would still be an amazing friend.

"I'd promised myself that I'd find a cure, ever since I was a little boy." Hank gave a slight nervous laugh before continuing. "You have no idea what I'd give to be… you know…"

" _Normal."_ Both spoke at the same time. Realizing what had happened, they gave each other small smiles followed by a breathless laugh.

"I understand more than you might think… I can change my appearance, but I feel like deep down everyone still knows that this isn't what I look like, and that they're still judging me." Raven said this, and Hank nodded.

"I know what you mean. I'm sort of envious of Charles. He's different, a mutant like us, but he doesn't understand the looks. He's never had to hide." Hank was surprised by the fire in Raven's eyes when they met.

"Charles has faced his own kind of ridicule. He's had to do his own hiding. But the worst part is he knows when he's been seen through. People think things they would never say out loud." Raven let out a sigh and looked down at the equipment sitting in between the two of them.

"I-I I'm confused." Hank stuttered slightly as he said this, confusion written all over his face. The blonde just shook her head.

"I've said too much already. Please don't ask Charles about it. It's a touchy subject for him. Now, this serum you're making… It doesn't affect abilities, right? Just appearances? Normalizes it?" Hank nodded after a second, and Raven gave him another small smile. "Do you think it would work on me?"

"I can look into it if you'd like. I mean it's the least I could do. After all, I did ask you down here with such a weird request." This got both of them laughing a little. "You know, with the nature of your mutation, your genes are the ones to most likely hold the key to changing appearance."

"Go ahead, take my blood." As she said this the young woman scooted closer pulled the sleeve of her shirt up past her elbow, her soul mark clearly visible against her skin. "And, uh, would you be willing to be to be another set of eyes? My soulmate seems to have pretty bad handwriting." Hank studied her soulmark for a few seconds, a frown written on his face.

"I can make out what I think is a 'z' but I can't be sure. Sorry for not being any more helpful than that." Raven just shrugged, and continued to present her arm towards him.

"That's okay. That's all anyone can ever really seem to see." As she said this, Hank prepared to take some of her blood. She flinched slightly when the needle entered her, but didn't say anything about it, instead she turned the conversation to be about Hank. "So have you found yours yet?"

"Nah, but you wouldn't happen to know any Alex's' would you?" Raven shook her head sadly, and Hank let out a sigh.

"Just be glad you can read yours, and have a chance of finding him." The pair jumped at the sound of Erik's voice and both whipped their heads around to look at the older man. "Not everyone is as lucky as you."

As he walked away from the two young adults, Erik knew Charles wouldn't be happy he'd scarred them, but quite frankly he was too overwhelmed by his own emotions to really care. He quietly stalked through the deserted hallways, his mind set on his goal so he didn't have to think about what else had been going on.

In the director's office he easily found the extremely thick file the CIA had labeled Sebastian Shaw. Erik allowed himself a small smile as he stowed the stolen documents inside his briefcase. He then quickly made his way towards the entrance of the building.

He wasn't quite sure what his plan was, but he just knew he was going to start hunting Schmit, Shaw, whatever he wanted to call himself, and get away from the cause of all his confusing emotions; Charles. However as he was walking out the front entrance, he heard a voice call to him from behind.

"From what I know about you I'm surprised you managed to stick around this long." Erik stopped in his tracks at the sound of the one person who he didn't want to deal with, yet at the same time, his heart seemed to flutter in excitement.

"What do you know about me?" Erik asked this without turning around, fearing what his heart might decide to do if he looked the telepath in the eyes again.

" _Everything."_ The mental presence reiterated who was behind him, what he was capable of. Gritting his teeth, Erik spared a glare towards the younger man.

"Then you know to stay out of my head." Erik ground this out, and turned away again as he started to walk away again.

"I'm sorry Erik, but I've seen what Shaw did to you." This stopped the older man in his tracks. He knew he shouldn't feel bad, Charles had been the one snooping around inside his head, but at the same time his heart ached at the thought Charles had seen what he'd been through. "I've felt your agony." Silence penetrated the air as Erik looked at the ground, resisting the urge to drop the briefcase and pull the younger man into an embrace. "I can help you."

Silence reigned again for several more seconds before Erik let out a small scoff as he turned around to face the telepath. Inside him Erik knew his next words would cut Charles deep, but he had to deal with Shaw before he tried to deal with his feelings.

"I don't need your help." Erik felt a wave of hurt roll off of Charles, but the man's face didn't betray any of the emotion. The metal bender couldn't help but wonder if this was what it was like for Charles all the time. To know the emotion and see the facade.

"Don't kid yourself. You needed my help last night. It's not just me you're walking away from. Here you've got the chance to be a part of something much bigger than yourself." As Charles spoke he took several steps forward, and stopped as silence took over the conversation once again. "I won't stop you leaving. I could." Erik tensed at the idea that Charles could take away his free will. "But I won't."

Charles started to walk backwards after he said this. His jaw clenched to not give anything away on his face, but Erik could easily see the hurt in his eyes. Erik didn't say anything even after Charles was completely turned away from him.

"Shaw's got friends. You could do with some" With that comment Charles reentered the building, and left Erik standing alone outside. The metal bender swore under his breath as he looked down at the ground, at a loss at what to do.

His mind was telling him to leave them all behind and continue to look for Shaw on his own. But at the same time, his heart was telling him to stay, specifically to stay and comfort the telepath. Let out a frustrating sigh he punched the concrete wall beside him and sank to the ground. He held his head in his hands as he tried to figure out what his next move was going to be.

Charles on the other hand walked through the two sets of glass doors that led into the CIA building with tears silently streaming down his cheeks. Once inside he leaned against the closest wall and took several shuddering breaths as he tried to rein in his powers. It would do him no good to alert or upset Raven with what was going on. He needed to sort out his own feelings and thoughts without having to deal with someone else's.

What Charles really couldn't understand was why he cared so much about this guy he'd literally met yesterday. Why he cared what Erik thought of his fantasy to help other mutants. Why he cared what Erik thought of him.

For a second his eyes wandered to where his long sleeved shirt covered up his deformed arm. His heart fluttered at the thought that maybe, just maybe, Erik could have been his soulmate. Charles quickly squashed that thought at the ridiculousness of it. The likelihood of that was nearly impossible. Besides with what they'd been through in the last day, Charles couldn't help but feel a bond would have formed if they truly were soul mate.

Letting out a sigh, Charles rose to his feet, cast the arm his father had mutilated a withering glare, and headed towards the rooms they had been assigned. On his way to his room, he passed by the door that had Erik's name written on it, and let out one more sigh before entering his own room. He barely remembered to take off his shoes before collapsing on the bed and promptly falling asleep.

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 **A/N: I would love to hear what you guys think of this story! Love it? Hate it? Want me to continue?**


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